Muay Thai Training in Thailand: Week 2

I can't believe how quickly time is flying by on Koh Samui. We have been training Muay Thai at Superpro Samui for two weeks now, but it barely feels like yesterday we arrived!

There is no doubt that Week 1 was tough, and both Alan & I were constantly sore and tired for the week's entirety. Week 2 has been SO much better! After working through the initial fatigue, bruising and in my case an almost inability to even brush my hair because my arms were too sore (!), I'm beyond pleased that we have come out the other side feeling mostly like normal people again.

As in, we can train in the morning and instead of being sore and exhausted for the rest of the day, we have energy to get out and about and explore this beautiful island of Koh Samui.

And explore we have!

Since my very first class where I was the only female and only beginner, thing sure have changed a lot over the past week! There are now a number of other newbies staying and training onsite, including a few girls, so I'm no longer alone.

Over this second week I definitely have noticed my form improving and I'm being corrected a lot less which is very motivating, however just in the last couple of days I feel like I have hit a bit of a lull. It feels like my body is starting to catch up with what I'm putting it through and I'm just feeling a little lower on energy during training, to the point where it is beginning to affect my form.

I've trained consistently every day this week so am looking forward to Sunday (tomorrow) off like crazy - just got to get through tonight's session first. Raging way to spend a Saturday night, eh!

Shadow boxing during warm-ups. Saturday morning's class is small!

In my recap on Week 1 I mentioned the challenge of learning and remembering all the lingo - thankfully this is becoming a lot easier to me now and I'm mostly able to focus on my technique and becoming faster, than simply trying to remember what's what in each drill. Although I still look like an absolute dork in these photos it definitely is becoming more natural!

I'm pleased to say that I've already smashed one of my goals, I'm able to run up the hill before training non-stop, and have done multiple times now. Even though I feel like I'm dying every time I run up, it feels pretty good afterwards! The abs still need plenty of work though...perhaps a few too many panang curries and pad thais? haha.

I know I said this last week, and its kind of gross but I'm going to say it again: Muay Thai training (especially in Thailand's heat) makes you sweat so freaking much! I'm literally drenched before the class is even halfway through. We often do a warm-up drill that involves 100 elbows - left, right, left, etc - and sweat just flies off my elbows each time like a shower, often hitting whichever unfortunate person is in front of me. For two hours straight it's pretty much just drip, drip, drip. Your bag gets sweaty, the floor gets sweaty (and slippery!), everything gets sweaty. SO much sweat. I always thought sweat was disgusting but when everyone else is in the same boat as you, profuse sweating strangely becomes quite normal.

Injuries. Despite the bruising having gone down and seemingly becoming hardened to bleeding knuckles, barefoot training on foam mats has led to both Alan and I suffering nasty foot blisters this past week. I had a bit of a blister explosion while I was on my rounds in the ring (yuck!), it stung like MAD but I could't stop until the time was up. Maybe I'm already toughening up?! We didn't miss any training sessions because of the damn blisters, but it sure made training a rather sore and difficult activity for a couple of days! We even had to get up 10 minutes earlier each morning to have time for taping them up, waaah!

I can't quite believe I'm saying this, but I'm almost SAD that two weeks have flown by and I don't feel ready to leave! Alan and I need to start planning where we go from Koh Samui when we finish up in two weeks (because uh, we've planned pretty much zilch so far), but I'm not ready to think about leaving! I'm feeling settled, stronger and (relatively) dedicated to this lifestyle - I'm not sure where Muay Thai is going to fit into my life once we leave here. Yep, some days I dread training just like the next person, but afterwards, wow! There's nothing quite like accomplishing an intense, two-hour Muay Thai session.

Dare I say it out loud, but I am proud of what I've achieved in the past two weeks of my life, and can't wait to become even more so in the couple of weeks to come. Muay Thai training in Thailand is hard work, but SO immensely rewarding. I'd recommend it to anyone!

I've got a post coming up on all the gear and essentials you'll need for your Muay Thai training, plus I'll also share some links to blogs and websites that I've found helpful and inspiring in my Muay Thai training journey. Keep an eye out!

Ah what a fantastic thing to go in Thailand! I am glad you are enjoying it, it was so hot when I was there moving was difficult never mind working out as well! If you do get time then I really recommend a thai cooking class, I had so much fun and still use the recipes today – always remind me of my trip 🙂 x

You’re definitely right about the heat, its exhausting! Totally agree with you about the cooking class, we actually did one a few weeks ago in Krabi just before we came to Koh Samui, and it was awesome! I can’t wait for the day when I have a kitchen again and can cook some of the recipes, thai food is soooooo good 🙂

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Welcome to The Butterfly Editions.

I’m Christie. I created The Butterfly Editions to share my travel experiences and connect with travellers around the globe. Now, I write about all sorts of topics including travel, lifestyle and renovating.